Cooled sealer for wrapping machines



March 21, 1939. u M. FINCKE COOLED SEALER FOR WRAPPING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 27, 1937 l,--- l ,FQ M -f 1i, .r lllllll ||L| r -L F N R NQ mw Q. mh m Q l?, A w Sq ln. sw m ww NNN @1 u Nh S. S, mwN QQ nr J m wm S, Rw mmf ww H mm: \\,w NW wm.. www E wm ww QN u W s s mw mm. am wm wwf @ma uw mm s uw m v m19@ s A w n al mw MN EN NN w\\ Q ww ww mm wm fo www o o l l I l I l l I I l I l I l I Il. lll. l @Q1 um. um sm Nu ww m mw 1Q w, Qu 'I IHNMIM'H'IMI Qh I l I l Il r .wv mm f a @C *NL ww mw www mw 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY V t E ATTORNEY D. M. FINCKE COOLED SEALER FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed Jan. 27, 1937 March 21, 1939.

March 21, 1939.

D. M. FINCKE COOLED SEALER FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed Jan. 27, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ,50M/md( 74@ *vv' BY l W MRNEY Patented Mar.` 21, 1939 cooLEn sEALEn. Fon wnarrme MACHINES Donald M. Fincke, Great Neck, N. Y., assigner to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application January ai, 1937, semi No. 122,519

a claims. (ci. 'ss-2) 'Ihis invention relates to a machine for sealing the seams of the wrappers which envelop such articles as loaves of bread; especially to a machine designed to heat locally the seams of a wrapper coated or impregnated with a substance adapted to soften when heated, and to be selfsealing cohsively when thereafter chilled; and more particularly to such a machine in which sealing elements are provided with ducts for the element, and with a cooled sealer connected with said wrapping machine, of a self-contained refrigerator unit adapted to be assembled in operative relation with said wrapping machine at the delivery end of the sealer mechanism, for receiving from said heater element the sealed articles.

Still another object of the invention is to pro-4 vide complemental belt conveyors, embracing the tops and bottoms of the loaves with yielding 1o circulation of a cooling iiuid through said elepressure, and at the region thereof between the ments. ends of the loaves, so that only the loaf-ends are Conventional sealing machines of the above engaged directly with the sealing elements, land class are subject to the inconvenience that a vare carried positively along them in Sealing oonvaporous refrigerant is circulated in the ducts of tact.

15 the sealing elements, and, as known 'to those A cognate object is to complete the bottom seal skilled inthe art, such a system is apt to leak during a dwell in thetravel of each loaf after it V and thus put the machine out of commission. is discharged by the belts-from the run between This unfavorable condition is aggravated whenl the end-Sealing elements. v adjustments of the sealing elements are provided Other objects and advantages of the invention i 2o for, inasmuch as the use or a nexlble conduit will appear as the particular physical embodifor the vaporous refrigerant is not satisfactorily ment of the invention selected for illustration vapor-tight, especially under rigorous operating and description thereof progresses. conditions. I In describing the invention in detail, and the Bearing the above problem in mind, the general particularly physical embodiment selected to il- 2li` Object o1' the present invention is to provide a lustrate the invention, reference will be had to sealing machine of the class described with a. the accompanying drawings and to the several sealer unit comprising sealer elements suitably 'views thereof, in which like characters of refdisposed for direct sealing contact with the arerencev designate like porfis throughout the Sevticle tobe sealed, and have ducts for the circulaeral views, and in which: t

3o tion of cooling liquid, such as brine, which may Fig. 1 iS e- Peli'fial Side elevation Ofl an end 0f be refrigerated by an ammonia or Iother suitable a wrapping machine showing in assembly there# system at a convenient distance from the sealing with a cooled sealer and a mobile refrigeratns station to avoid entirely the disadvantages above unit in the Construction 0f Which the present recited; the use of brine',- for example, as a coolinvention has been embodied:

35 ing liquid, making it possibleto use suitable nex- Fig. 2 vis a side elevation of the refrigerator ible connections, and thus to secure optimum adunit;

instability of the sealing elements. Fig. 3 is a'schematic view showing the hook- Another object of the invention is to provide up of the refrigerator unit with the Sealing unit;

a wrapping machine having such a cooled sealer Fis. 4 is a fragmentary detail view in'vertical 40 with a refrigerating mechanism which comprises sectionalY elevation taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. `a self-contained refrigerator system mounted on 1; and a separately formed frame or carriage by which Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view in vertical the refrigerator is constituted a self-contained sectional end elevation ytaken on the line 55 unitary structure movable readily into operative oi' F18- 1- juxtaposition with any wrapping machine or a Referring to Fig. 1, the supporting rods II) of battery of such Wrapping machines, It is thus the wrapping machine, at one end, are supported I possible, when any refrigerating unit gets out of in bearings II and, at their other end, in legs 11a. order, to substitute a reservaunit which has been v A ,U-shaped hanger I2 attached at the -end of the .left in order :for such substitution. Accordingly, rods I0 supports one end of the bars I3 which expensive delays are eliminated and the contiproject from the wrapping machine' frame. Rods nuity of operationof the wrapping machines is I0 carrying bearings I4, I5, and Il which supassured. n 1 port a bar Il and spindles I8 and I9, respectively.

Still another object of the invention is to pro- 'I'he spindles I8 and I9 are equipped at both ends vide for the combination vwith a mapping ma-v with arms 20Sandy 2l, respectively, connecting to chine ofthe class described having a seal-heater bars-22 carrying the side tanks 23 which engage and seal the ends of the package. The bar I1,

at its ends, can'ies brackets 24 which support a driven conveyor shaft 25. A pulley 28, mounted on shaft 25, driving a conveyor belt 21 runs over an idler pulley 28 loosely mounted on a shaft 29, the ends of said shaft being carried by adjustably mounted arms 30 which are guided in the slotted portion of take-up brackets 3| attached to rods I0. In the space between the pulleys 26 and 28 is placed a supportplate 32, preventing sagging of the upper loop of conveyor 21, carried by holders 33 attached to the rods I0.

The bottom tank 34, which is carried by arms 30, seals the bottom seam of the packages as they are conveyed over the same. The packages are then pushed over a bridge 35 onto a cover 38, of the refrigerator unit (see Figs. 1 and 2) from which they are taken off by the operator.

A driven shaft 40, of the wrapping machine, is provided with a sprocket 4| driving, by means of a chain 42, a sprocket 43 mounted on a shaft 44 carried by a U arm 45 adjustably supported onV shaft 40. A small sprocket 48 also mounted on shaft 44, by means of a chain 41, drives a sprocket 48 attached to a shaft 49 of the top tension belt mechanism. Shaft 44 is provided with a pair of loosely mounted arms 50, Fig. 4, at their other end having an elongated slot receiving a stud 52 canied by arms 53 supporting the shaft 49. 'lhe arm 45 pivotally mounted on shaft 40, together with the pivotal mounting of arms 50 and 53, permits a vertical up and down adjustment of the top tension belt mechanism to suit the height of the package, by means to be later described. I

On shaft 49 is mounted a pulley 55 driving a top tension belt 58 running over a pulley 51 carried by a shaft 58 supported in take-up blocks 59 adiustably attached to U shaped longitudinal strips 60 (Figs. 1 and 5). Members 80 carry angular frames 8|"`and 62, the former being equipped with studs 53 supporting a plate 84 engazing the under loop of belt 56 and the frame 62 is provided with a vertical spindle 65 engaging in a hub of a tie bracket 66 spanning the bars I 3. A similar tie bracket 61, also spanning said bars, guides a vertical spindle 88 equipped with a hand wheel 89. The manipulation of hand wheel 69, by means of a sprocket on spindle 88, turns a sprocket 1| on spindle 65, through chain 12,

whereby the belt 56 may be raised or lowered to` best suit the height ofn the packages being wrapped, thus applying a gentle pressure to the package and assuring a well sealed bottom seam.

Referring to Fig. 3, the bottom vcoils of condenser and the receiver 16 contain a liquid refrigerant. The upper coils ofthe condenser contain a refrigerant gas under suillcient pr'essure to prevent the liquid refrigerant from boiling or vaporizing. The gas pressure pushes down upon the liquid forcing the liquid up through the feed tube 11 leading to an expansion valve 18 regulating the flow of liquid and permitting only a small amount of liquid to rush into the cooling coils. 'Ihe cooling coils, Figs. 2 and 3, consist -of a plurality of inner coils 18 and a plurality of outer coils 80, the liquid flowing through'expansion valve 18 into the inner coilsA 19 and coils A motor 85, which is independently controlled from the rest of the unit, is mounted on a bracket 86 and drives a. pump 81 circulating the brine solution entering through a port 89 provided in the tank 8|. The pumpl forces the solution through a tube 90 leading to a T 9| where the solution branches into a tube 92 feeding one of the side tanks 23 and into a tube 93 feeding the other side tank 23, the solution then flowing through the chambers within said tanks and discharging into tubes 94 and 95 directing the flow of the solution into the bottom tank 34. The iiow of the solution passes through the bottom tank, returning to the storage tank 8| by means of a tube 96 attached to the bottom tank. I

When the temperature of the brine in tank 8| rises above the predetermined point, a thermostatic bulb |00 and capillary tube |0| of remote type acts upon a switch |03 which starts a compressor. The gas with which the thermostatic element is charged is very sensitive to temperature changes. A rise in temperature at the bulb |00, Fig. 3, which is submerged in the brine solution, -communicates through the capillary tubing |0| to a pressure control unit |02 of a conventional type; therefore, a brief description of the same is deemed sufficient. A rise in temperature at the bulb |00 is accompanied by a corresponding rise in gas pressure which acts upon the control unit |02, which through suitable linkage tilts a mercury switch |83 to an on-position, as the temperature of the bulb and gas within it drops, this being accompanied by a drop in gas pressure which acts u'pon said linkage of the control unit and reverses the action of the same, tilting the mercury switch to an off-position.

When the mercury switch |03 is tilted to its onposition, the flow of current from the line wires |04 passes through a throw switch |05, normally in closed position, and .through wires |08 and |01 thereby starting a motor |08. The motor |08 in starting drives a belt |09 which sets a comfpressor ||0 in motion, whereby through a pipe connecting to the coils 19 and 80, the gas is pumped out of said coils and returned to the bompressor where it is compressed. A draft of air sent over the condenser coils 15 by means of a fan (not`shown) attached to the motor shaft hastens the process of cooling the liquid refrigerant. When the temperature again drops, the mercury switch |03 will be tilted to its of!- position, thus stopping the motor.

The packages have beenl wrapped and their ends folded by suitable means (not shown) are pushed across a bottom-sealing plate ||5, Fig. 1, and between a set of side heater members ||8, whereby the bottom and end flaps of the packages are sealed. The members ||8 are carried by adjustable brackets (not shown) mounted at each end of the package runway, permitting in and out adjustment of the sealers ||8 to suit the tween vsaid sealers is great enough to arrest the l heat from radiating to the frigid Sealers thus 88. The aforementioned coils are submerged in asupply brine solution, constituting a permanently liquid or non-gaseous refrigerating medium, stored in agtank 8| oi' the housing 82. The tank 8| is surrounded at its sides and bottom with inlulating pads 83, and the top cover 38 carries an insulating pad 84,.

preventing defrosting of the same. The4 advancing package finally reaches the conveyor belt 21 which transports the same past the frigid side tanks 23. which contact the hot seals of the end flaps of the package, thus setting the same. In passing through the cooling chamber the package is subjected to a,l gentle pressure between conveyor 21 and top tension belt 56, ,thereby assuring a well closed bottom seal. The package in issuing from the cooling chamber comes to rest on the frigid bottom sealer M which sets the `end of spindle `I8 turns a sprocket I2I over which runs a chain |22 turning a sprocket |23 mounted on spindle I9. 'Ihis arrangement permits in and out adjustment oi' the frigid side tanks to suit the length of the package.

What is claimed is: r

1. In a wrapping machine, the combination with a cooling unit comprising cooling elements in the form of closed metal tanks adapted to receive a supply of cooling liquid and suitably disposed for direct contact with the ends of heat sealed` packages to congeal the heated seals thereof, means relatively remote from said unit for refrigerating a supply of cooling liquid and circulating it through said tanks, a pair of endl less traveling belts disposed tol admit packages therebetween and coacting to grip the top and v bottom thereof and advance them sidewise past said tanks with their ends contacting the latter, a device" for-relatlvely moving said belts toward and away from each other to admit packages oi? various heights therebetween, and mechanism for driving said belts in the various adjustedpositions thereof.

2. In a. wrapping machine, the combination Vwith a cooling unit comprising cooling elements in the form of closed metal tanks adapted to receive a supply of cooling liquid and suitably disosed for direct contact with the ends of heat ed packages to congeal the heated seals thereof, means relatively remote from said unit for refrigerating a supply of cooling liquid and circulating it through said tanks. a pair of endless topv and bottom traveling belts disposed to admit packages therebetween and coacting to grip the top and bottom thereof and advance them sidewise past said tanks with their ends contacting the latter, a device for moving said top belt toward and away from the bottom belt to admit packages of various heights therebetweenJ mechanismfor driving said belts in the various adjusted positions thereof. a member for yieldingly pressing the active run oi' the top belt into engagement with the packages, and means for adjusting said member to compensate for adjustment of the top belt. DONALD M. FINCKE. 

